The Collapse of Chinese Football

Once attracting world-famous European footballers with lucrative salaries, Chinese clubs are now facing financial turmoil and corruption scandals. Guangzhou Evergrande, a two-time winner of the AFC Champions League, has been dissolved, while the national team failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. So why did the ambitious project to turn Chinese football into one of the world's leading systems fail to achieve its goals?

In the 2010s, Chinese football captured the world's attention. Major corporations invested heavily in clubs, renowned European footballers and celebrated coaches arrived in the country, and the government set out to make China one of the leading centres of world football in the future. However, several years later, the fragility of the foundations behind this ambition began to emerge. The debt crisis of major corporations, clubs' dependence on sponsors, corruption and systemic problems in youth football revealed that the ambitious projects were unable to sustain themselves.

China's Grand Football Ambition

In the early 2010s, China's economy was growing rapidly, and major corporations were generating substantial profits. The country's leadership wanted China to become a global power not only economically but also in sports. Football occupied a special place in this strategy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's interest in football provided political momentum for reforms across the country. In 2015, the government announced a comprehensive programme to develop the sport. The plan outlined objectives to develop children's and youth football, improve the professional club system, expand infrastructure and elevate the national team to the international level. The objectives were officially set out.

Long-term plans also included hosting the FIFA World Cup and eventually reaching a level at which China could win the tournament. Under the programme approved in March 2015, the number of primary and secondary schools specialising in football was expected to reach 20,000 by 2020 and 50,000 by 2025. These targets were outlined.

This was not merely a sporting project. China sought to enhance its international prestige through football, establish a major sports market and attract millions of young people to the game. Before long, this policy began to reshape the professional football market as well. Chinese clubs started spending enormous sums on transfers.

Brazilian midfielder Oscar moved from Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG, while Carlos Tevez joined Shanghai Shenhua from Boca Juniors. Other prominent players, including Hulk, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Javier Mascherano and Alex Teixeira, also played in the Chinese league. In 2017, Shanghai SIPG signed Oscar from Chelsea for approximately £60 million.

Carlos Tevez's salary at Shanghai Shenhua also attracted considerable attention. Reports suggested that the Argentine striker was earning nearly £615,000 a week. As a result, the Chinese Super League quickly became one of the most prominent destinations in the global football market.

However, an important question remained: was Chinese football building an independent and sustainable system, or was it relying on the vast financial resources of major corporations?

Guangzhou Evergrande: Rise and Fall

To understand the rise and subsequent crisis of Chinese football, it is essential to examine the history of Guangzhou Evergrande. In 2010, the club was acquired by China Evergrande Group, a company operating in the real estate sector. Its chairman, Hui Ka Yan, invested heavily in an effort to build an unrivalled team in China.

The results came quickly. Guangzhou Evergrande won the Chinese league title eight times between 2011 and 2019. The club also won the AFC Champions League in 2013 and 2015.

The team was managed at different times by some of the most respected figures in world football, including Italian coach Marcello Lippi, Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and Fabio Cannavaro.

The club also participated in the FIFA Club World Cup. At the 2015 tournament, Guangzhou Evergrande reached the semi-finals, where it lost 0–3 to Barcelona. The team eventually finished fourth.

In addition, the club established a youth development partnership with Real Madrid. A large football academy equipped with modern facilities was built. Plans were even put forward to construct a stadium with a capacity of 100,000 spectators.

From the outside, the future of Chinese football appeared bright.

However, the success had a serious weakness: Guangzhou Evergrande was developing not primarily through its own revenue, but through the financial resources of the company funding it. When the company was strong, the club was strong. Once the company encountered financial difficulties, the foundations of the football project began to weaken as well.

Evergrande's Debt Crisis

One of the main reasons behind the club's collapse occurred off the pitch — in China's real estate sector.

For years, China Evergrande Group had undertaken major construction projects and accumulated substantial debt. The company continued financing new projects on the assumption that the property market would keep growing.

However, this model could not function indefinitely. In 2020, the Chinese government tightened regulations aimed at limiting the borrowing capacity of real estate companies. Growth in the housing market slowed, while problems associated with construction projects and financial obligations intensified.

By 2021, Evergrande had become one of the world's largest property companies unable to meet its debt obligations. Its total liabilities, reported to exceed $300 billion, received extensive coverage in the international media.

The company's financial problems directly affected its football project. It became increasingly difficult to secure funding for player salaries, transfers, the coaching staff and infrastructure maintenance. Star players and coaches began leaving the team.

At the end of 2022, Guangzhou Evergrande was relegated from the Chinese Super League. The team that had once conquered Asia was forced to compete in a lower division. Its financial problems remained unresolved in the following years.

On 6 January 2025, Guangzhou FC announced that it would officially cease operations after failing to settle its substantial historical debts and secure admission to the professional league for the new season.

Thus, an eight-time Chinese league champion and two-time AFC Champions League winner disappeared from professional football.

The Problem Was Not Limited to One Club

The crisis in Chinese football was not confined to Guangzhou Evergrande.

Another example was Jiangsu Suning, which won the Chinese Super League title in 2020. The team defeated Guangzhou Evergrande in the final, proving itself to be the strongest club in the country.

However, just three months after winning the championship, the club announced in February 2021 that it would cease operations. The decision was caused by financial difficulties at its owner, Suning Group. The company stopped funding its football project in order to focus on its core business operations.

As a result, the reigning national champion disappeared from professional football.

Another example was Hebei FC. At one point, the club had invested heavily in its squad, attracting well-known players such as Ezequiel Lavezzi, Javier Mascherano and Gervinho.

However, financial difficulties reduced its ability to cover players' salaries and other expenses. Eventually, the team withdrew from the professional football system.

These cases exposed a systemic problem in Chinese professional football: the fate of many clubs had become dependent on the financial condition of the corporations funding them.

When a parent company encountered financial difficulties, its football club was left without funding. Teams that lacked independent sources of revenue found it extremely difficult to recover from such a shock.

Restrictions on Expensive Transfers

The enormous spending in Chinese football did not escape the government's attention.

Beginning in 2017, Chinese football authorities started imposing restrictions on what they described as "irrational spending" by clubs. Additional financial requirements were introduced for expensive transfers.

The rationale was that clubs were paying more attention to purchasing foreign players for huge sums than to developing domestic football.

In December 2020, the Chinese Football Association announced even stricter financial restrictions. Under the regulations introduced at the time, the annual salaries of foreign players in the Chinese Super League were capped at €3 million before tax, while the salaries of domestic players were limited to 5 million yuan.

Limits were also introduced on clubs' overall expenditure. These measures were intended to contain the financial bubble and make clubs more economically sustainable.

However, there was another consequence: the league became less attractive to players who had previously been drawn to China by enormous salaries. Some foreign stars left, and the number of major new transfers declined.

The Pandemic Accelerated the Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic further intensified the existing problems in Chinese football.

The league schedule was altered, organising matches became more difficult, and some games were played without spectators. Under these circumstances, clubs' opportunities to generate revenue from ticket sales, sponsorships and other commercial sources declined.

Teams dependent on funding from sponsoring companies were particularly hard hit.

The main problem, however, was not the pandemic itself. It exposed the fragility of the existing economic model.

If a club cannot generate sufficient revenue through its stadium, supporters, commercial partnerships and academy, the financial difficulties of its sponsoring company can put the club's very existence at risk.

This was precisely what happened in Chinese football.

Why Did Billions Fail to Create a Strong National Team?

One of the greatest paradoxes of Chinese football is that despite the enormous sums invested in professional clubs, the national team failed to reach the expected level.

China participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. It remains the country's only appearance at the tournament to date. The national team lost all three of its group-stage matches and failed to score a single goal.

In the following years, major programmes were launched to develop football.

However, China also failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The national team was unable to achieve sufficient results in its group during the third round of the Asian qualifying campaign and was eliminated from the competition before the final stages.

The 0–7 defeat to Japan in September 2024 also highlighted the problems facing Chinese football. It was one of China's heaviest defeats in World Cup qualifying history.

In an analytical article published by BBC Sport in March 2025, the Chinese national team was reported to be ranked 90th in the FIFA rankings. This demonstrated that despite the reforms and major investments launched in 2015, the national team had not made significant progress on the international stage.

So, What Was the Problem?

Buying foreign stars does not automatically improve the quality of domestic players.

Building a strong national team requires more than simply allocating funds to professional clubs. Children's football, schools, coach training and regular competitions must function as an interconnected system.

Developing a footballer is a process that takes many years. It is impossible to produce internationally competitive players within just a few seasons, regardless of how much money is invested.

Why Did the Academies Fail to Deliver the Expected Results?

One of the factors hindering the development of Chinese football was the problem within the youth training system.

Large football academies were established across the country, modern pitches were built, and foreign coaches were recruited. However, improvements in infrastructure did not necessarily lead to the emergence of high-quality footballers.

For example, the Guangzhou Evergrande Academy was one of the largest football development projects in China. Thousands of young players were expected to train and receive education in modern facilities.

But building a large academy is not the same as creating a successful football school.

According to the authors of the research, the insufficient integration between sports and education systems, the lack of clearly defined responsibilities among organisations, and the excessive emphasis on results in children's football all hindered development.

Although many children in China participate in sports at a young age, education and preparation for examinations become priorities during secondary school.

As a result, the time available for regular football training and reaching the professional level becomes increasingly limited.

Another important issue is the attitude of parents. Corruption and various scandals in professional football can damage the sport's reputation in society. Consequently, some parents hesitate to link their children's future to football.

The problem, therefore, is not simply the number of academies. China needed a system that could provide a pathway from school football to professional clubs while integrating coaching quality, competition and football culture.

Corruption: A Blow to Trust in Football

Corruption and match-fixing scandals cannot be overlooked when discussing the crisis in Chinese football.

In recent years, extensive investigations have been conducted into the country's football administration. A number of senior officials, coaches and players have been accused of corruption.

One of the most high-profile cases involved Li Tie, the former head coach of China's national team.

Li Tie, who previously played for Everton in England, was appointed interim head coach of the Chinese national team in 2019. He was subsequently named head coach and remained in charge until 2021.

In December 2024, he was found guilty of bribery and crimes related to illegally influencing football match results and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

This was not the only corruption case in Chinese football.

In March 2024, former Chinese Football Association president Chen Xuyuan was found guilty of accepting more than 81 million yuan in bribes and sentenced to life imprisonment.

In September 2024, the Chinese Football Association banned 38 players and five club officials for life over match-fixing and gambling-related violations.

Official investigations reportedly found evidence of match-fixing in 120 games, involving 41 clubs. The findings were reported.

Punishments Continued in 2026

On 29 January 2026, new sanctions were announced following investigations into corruption, match-fixing and illegal gambling in Chinese football.

The Chinese Football Association and relevant government authorities imposed lifetime bans from all football-related activities on 73 individuals found guilty of criminal offences by the courts.

In addition, 13 professional clubs were handed points deductions and financial penalties for the 2026 season.

According to an official statement from the Chinese Football Association, Tianjin Jinmen Tigers and Shanghai Shenhua were each deducted 10 points. Reigning champions Shanghai Port lo